I take this to mean a real pilot, not just a first episode. I only know of a few, and of these I love the Due South and Twin Peaks ones. As I didn't see the Due South pilot until I'd watched some of the series, I'm choosing Twin Peaks. It did what a good pilot is supposed to do: it drew me in and had me hooked in no time.

It had been my understanding that Philip Glenister didn't want to do a third series of Ashes to Ashes, so the cliffhanger ending of 2.08 took me completely by surprise at the time. Only later did I learn that a third series had been commissioned.

Something similar happened with Nurse Jackie. I thoroughly enjoyed this show, but the final episode (or so I thought) ended in chaos. It all but killed my love for the series, until I read on IMDb that there was going to be a second season. (And, as I now see, a third one as well. How silly of me to think they would quit so soon!) Anyway, looking forward to it.

Only the first series of Slings & Arrows was shown here at the time, but I have all three and I plan on watching the whole thing this coming autumn;

and I don't think I've ever seen the complete Black Books, only random episodes. I should probably remedy that. Fortunately they have both series at my library. [ETA: apparently there were three series made, oh well.]

My love for language-based comedy means I have many, many favourite quotes, but most of them aren't as funny when read out of context or if the characters are unfamiliar. Therefore I'm picking only one today, Basil talking to himself in the Fawlty Towers episode "Communication Problems" (1979).

Several variations can be found online, but Belgian TV conveniently repeated the episode last Monday, so I sat poised, pen in hand, to check whether I had the quote word-perfect. I hadn't, but I do now.

"ZOOM!""What was that?""That was your life, mate.""Oh, that was quick. Do I get another?""Sorry mate, that's your lot!"

I am pretty sure we are meant to agree with Blackadder that Lord Flashheart is an arrogant git, but my dislike was such at first that I could barely watch him whenever he was on screen. (Nothing to do with Rik Mayall, it was purely the character.) It took some rewatching before I understood, and cracked up at, a rather crude joke of his and after that I couldn't not like him any more.

Other characters I have found annoying include: Daisy in Dead Like Me; Buster in Arrested Development; Lucy in Being Human; Alex in series 1 of Ashes to Ashes; and also somewhat in series 3, because she seems so taken with Jim Keats, whom any person in their right mind can see is an utter creep.

But the start of the third series of Mistresses has reminded me how much I want to slap Katie. She must certainly win first prize here, with Trudi from the same series coming in a close second.

The first time I saw "Goodbyeee" (the Blackadder Goes Forth finale) I hated it with a vengeance. I actually shouted at the TV that "this is supposed to be a comedy, for god's sake!" Other series of Blackadder had ended in death, but they were still funny. This one was just bleak and depressing.

Over time it has steadily grown on me though, and nowadays it's not only my favourite Blackadder Goes Forth episode, but also one of the best series endings I have ever seen.

Whereas Annie's relationship with George is purely sister/brother, with Mitchell we can sense a mutual attraction. They'd make a good couple. Mitchell's being a vampire can be dangerous to his love interests, but since Annie is a ghost, he doesn't have to worry about accidentally killing her.

They sort of half-kiss in episode 1.04 and it is sweet and cute, and although they are both distracted by others in the second series, the final episode shows that they do have a deep connection. It has been hinted that their relationship may develop into something more in the third series.

I was quite happy to ship Gene/Alex during Ashes to Ashes, but when I started watching Life on Mars I knew this was the real deal. Sam and Gene belong together.

A lot of credit for that has to go to the actors and the people who cast them. I don't think LoM could have been anywhere near as good without John Simm and/or Philip Glenister. Apart from being great actors, they also have fantastic chemistry together. Their body types complement each other and perfectly match their characters' personalities. I read somewhere that Gene is like a bulldog and Sam like a terrier, which is so apt (and something the US remake got spectacularly wrong).

The Sam/Gene dynamic is definitely the most important aspect of LoM. Even the creators have said that the real love story is between them. Although they often fight they develop a mutual respect and friendship, and they need each other to become better people. Gene, who may seem like a big bully but is protective of his team in general and of Sam in particular, shows remarkable patience whenever Sam has one of his crazy spells. Sam/Gene = my OTP forever.

This one had me stumped for a while, until I remembered my guilty pleasure show. Out of the many Beecher/Keller kisses on YouTube I picked this one, because it is just a sweet kiss with no added Drama:

Of course the usual suspects (Life on Mars, The Singing Detective) have a formidable cast, and no doubt several others do as well, but I decided to give the honours to The League of Gentlemen. Three actors playing most of the characters and managing to give each one a distinctive personality is no mean feat in my book.

I had to think really long and hard before I came up with Six Feet Under and Dead Like Me. I guess I don't pay that much attention to title sequences.

Good theme music, on the other hand, I find very important. Sometimes the music is the best part of the series, and therefore I'd like to change this to: Favourite theme music.

4. "Living It Up" by Bert Kaempfert (theme from Kapitein Zeppos). Kapitein Zeppos was not my favourite Belgian series at the time (that would be Axel Nort), but the theme was ace.

3. Theme from The League of Gentlemen, series 1 and 2 (the soundfile is the second one from the top [ETA: the one entitled "Theme tune from Series 2" — it keeps changing places]; I especially love the second half of it). I was heartbroken when they ruined it made a different arrangement for series 3.

2. Twin Peaks theme by Angelo Badalamenti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oDuGN6K3VQ (sorry, I can't seem to embed YouTube videos any more, due to my browser being too old). Badalamenti's music added so much to the spookiness of Twin Peaks.

1. Theme from The Persuaders by John Barry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAxvfmGUjuQ. The Persuaders was about two playboys who fought crime, I think, although I seem to recall they were pretty shady themselves. Or maybe that was just the playboy bit. Anyway, I quite liked the series, but I adored the music. Still do.

I may have forgotten a few, but Patsy in Ab Fab, Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development, Diana in Waiting for God, Delores Herbig in Dead Like Me, Phyllis in Life on Mars, Shaz in Ashes to Ashes, Zoey in Nurse Jackie, Pauline in The League of Gentlemen, and Annie from Being Human are the ones I can come up with for now. Of these, Annie is probably my favourite.

Basically a bubbly, fun-loving and caring personality, somewhere along the line Annie has become a shadow of herself. Turning into a ghost after her deadly fall from the stairs has done nothing to help that, and she feels confused, insecure, lonely and trapped in the house she died in.

Then George and Mitchell move in, and she gradually regains her self-confidence with a little help from the boys. Coming to terms with the truth about her death, she steadily becomes more assertive, until towards the end of the first series she discovers she has some rather impressive powers of her own. Go Annie!

Oh god, where do I begin? The fun thing about this meme is that it makes me think of series that have all but disappeared in the mists of time.

Tom Conti's character in The Glittering Prizes (WHY has this only been released as a region 1 DVD??), Derek Jacobi as Claudius, Sir Humphrey in Yes, (Prime) Minister, Special Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks, Benton Fraser (and Dieffenbaker) in Due South, Michael in Arrested Development, Blackadder from series 2 onward (and let's not forget Percy and Baldrick), David Tennant as Casanova, Gene Hunt in LoM/A2A... no doubt I have overlooked many more.

Bill Nighy is a scene-stealer in most everything he's in, a.o. as Cameron in State of Play. Then there were a few minor characters in Being Human that didn't get nearly enough screen time for my liking: Gilbert the emo '80s ghost who spoke in Smiths songtitles; Mark the sarky hospital chaplain; and the very suave vampire (and Kate Bush fan) Ivan. Which reminds me BTW that Herrick is my favourite baddie.

Sam Tyler is my favouritest character though. Somewhere during the first series I fell in love. I don't know exactly when it happened (that's the problem with watching a whole series in one day, it all becomes a bit blurry); at the very latest it was episode 1x06, but I think it was probably much earlier than that.

Ja zuster, nee zuster ("yes nurse, no nurse") ran from 1966 to 1968 and was an extremely popular children's/family programme written by Annie M.G. Schmidt, with music by Harry Bannink. I remember always watching it together with my mum on Saturday afternoons, and I still have the LPs with the songs and a book containing four of the stories.

Although some of the songs and outside scenes were shot on film, most of the episodes were recorded on Ampex tapes, which due to their expensiveness were used over and over again. Therefore very little has remained of the series, which no doubt has helped it acquire its legendary status.

In the early '90s, I believe, an appeal was made to viewers to check whether they had any recordings of the original series, and a surprising amount of material showed up. Unfortunately, most of it was in very bad condition, as the atrocious quality of this clip demonstrates: ( Stekkie van de fuchsiaCollapse )

Another series I loved to bits was Thierry la Fronde. According to Wikipedia it was also broadcast from 1966 to 1968 in the Netherlands. Hmmm, I thought it was a little earlier than Ja zuster, nee zuster. Anyway, I was madly in love with Thierry and oh, how I wanted to be Isabelle!

I stopped watching Mad Men after the first season, because although pretty much everything about it was brilliant (gorgeous art direction!), I found all the characters unsympathetic and I couldn't care less about what happened to any of them.

I had high hopes for Pushing Daisies, because it was written by Bryan Fuller, the man behind Dead Like Me. Sadly, the first two episodes didn't do it for me. I thought it was very cutesy and I had to suspend my disbelief a little too much. Judging from the ratings and reviews on IMDb, mine is a minority opinion though.

This is becoming repetitive, but: The Singing Detective and Life on Mars.

The Singing Detective was broadcast in the Netherlands by the VPRO. In a preview they showed part of the "Dry Bones" scene (see yesterday's post), I think it was the girls in the chorus line. I immediately dismissed it as "sexist" and refused to watch it.

My mum did watch it and said it was great and I really ought to see it, but I did not want to step in later. Fortunately the VPRO had received so many requests for a repeat that soon after the series ended they aired it again. This time I did watch it and the same scene that had got my hackles up when shown out of context now blew me away with its brilliance.

Something similar happened with Life on Mars. I had missed the first episode, but I decided to try the second episode anyway, even though I thought the premise sounded pretty ridiculous.

While the chase down the canal was amusing, I was appalled by the police brutality during the interrogation, and later on, when the superior officer practically pressed his subordinate's nose into a pool of blood on the street, I decided I'd had enough. Too much testosterone for my liking, the TV equivalent of lad lit.

If it hadn't been for the third series of Ashes to Ashes, I would probably never have given Life on Mars a second chance.

My initial refusal to watch these series due to sexism/testosterone overload is not the only thing they have in common, BTW. Both protagonists are lying in hospital and "escape" to a previous era, where the music of the period plays an important part. Both have daddy issues and work through childhood trauma. Both are detectives and fight crime. And both series are brilliant, of course.